Facebook raises the curtain on its new U.K. engineering office
The social network officially opens its first international engineering office in London, which it says is "rapidly emerging as a global technology hub."
Facebook officially opened the doors to its London office today -- making it the social network's first international engineering center.
The social network was courted by the British government, which has been working to make the U.K. a place the tech industry can call home.
According to Reuters, the company's vice president of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, said that London is "rapidly emerging as a global technology hub" and a place that can both provide engineers as well as be a good place for engineers to relocate.
Facebook announced the opening of its U.K. engineering center in July. "Our team in London will start small, focusing on building a core of great engineers, and then grow over time and eventually focus on building products in key areas like mobile and platform," Facebook software engineer and London team leader Philip Su said at the time.
That description of the office's planned growth is reflected on Facebook's job openings page, which currently lists 25 positions. Eight of the positions are for engineers, including those that specialize in developer platforms, Android, mobile, and security infrastructure. According to Reuters, the team now has 12 members.
The expansion comes as the company increases its focus on international markets. While user growth has stagnated in the United States, growth in Asia and South America has picked up. The social network announced earlier this month that it hit 1 billion active users worldwide.
The new London office will join Facebook's network of engineering offices, which include New York, Seattle, and its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.